Wednesday, August 25, 2010

It was a blast. Myself, Rebecca, Dana (of With Love Bridal Boutique) and my trusty assistant Alea headed out on a warm sunny afternoon to shoot a trash the dress session with CBC television and radio with Ashley Burke. For someone who hates having her photo taken (yes it's true), being filmed was nerve wracking...Nonetheless, we has a great time! Here's our story! Special thanks to Sylvain and Caroline of Reno Video Productions who also came along for the fun.

Ottawa Brides Trash the Gown

Last Updated: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 | 7:15 PM ET

CBC News

Some recently married women in Ottawa are putting on their wedding dresses for a second photo shoot, but not the formal portraits that go into wedding albums.

They're taking their expensive, once-in-a-lifetime gown to an industrial site or waterway and jumping in. For some, it's an artistic statement, a chance to recycle an emotion-charged piece of clothing. For others, it's simply fun.

"I'm not going to get married again. You get married and you're done with the dress. It's going to hang in the closet. Let's wear it again and do something cool," said Dana Salares, who got married a year ago.

Salares said she had a big, rushed wedding: "I wasn't relaxed … we didn't have a lot of pictures where we just looked like we were having the time of our lives."

She didn't like her wedding photos: " I just wanted to be perfect. I didn't look like myself."

Now she's jumping into a pond in her $2,000 dress. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

Rebecca Visscher scoured the racks for months before walking down the aisle in a $1,300 designer gown.

"I promised I wouldn't get trashed on my wedding," but it's different now, she said. "You get to just have fun, let loose and take your hair down literally and take some great pictures with your favourite dress."

For wedding photographer Mélanie Rebane of m photography in Ottawa, it's all about dropping Cinderella brides into big, sloppy messes for an edgy, untraditional shot.

"I can't throw someone in the water on their wedding day," she said. "I can't get them dirty. They're far too precious with their dress."

Called trash the dress or rock the frock, the idea started at destination weddings in the Caribbean with cheaper gowns, where brides would go to a beach and jump in, gown an all.

Since then, it has spread as photographers encouraged brides to burn their dress or throw paint on it, Rebane said.

Visscher didn't go that far. She had her picture taken in a sewer pipe, a big change from wrapping the dress in acid-free paper and putting it away for a daughter who may never wear it.

Special note: Just because it's called "trash the dress", doesn't necessarily mean it's trashed ...often this is a final step in saying goodbye to the wedding gown before passing it on to be donated or consigned.